verb phrase with one auxiliary verb: various tenses such as can eat, am walking, were eating, will eat, have been, have gone, etc.

verb phrase with two or more auxiliary verbs: future tense and perfect tenses (past, present, or future) such as should be eating, could have been eating, would have wanted to be, had been playing, etc.

Basic Verb Tense Worksheets and Activities

Previews – Click on picture to view a small preview of each activity.

(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6)(7)(8)(9)(10)(11) (12)

Documents – Click on Doc or PDF to download worksheets in preferred format.

Pull out your phone (also works well on computers) and try these FREE mobile verb close-ups.

(Phone Previews) (Computer preview)

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Verb Tense Teaching Information

Tense allows us to more effectively communicate information related to when something occurs, occurred, or will occur, as well as more effectively understand if the occurrence has been completed, is in progress, or will occur continuously. The inference of tense is a frequent method of language simplification. When an adult asks, “What did you do at school today?” and

a child answers “Play with my friends,” the inference is that the event has already occurred. Normally developing children acquire aspects of tense production, such as the –ed morpheme, that allow them to avoid potential confusion resulting from tense omission.

In the English language, tense co-occurs with aspect, which concerns the description of an event relative to its completion, repetition, or continuing duration. Different languages use various techniques to express differences in tense. Latinate languages, in particular, use a variety of morphological endings to express when something happens (Crystal, pg 196). English only uses three: the –s, –ed, and -ing endings. Other tenses are communicated through irregular forms, auxiliary verbs, and adverbs.

Verb tense overlaps with many language skills, such as subject-verb agreement, production of infinitive verbs, irregular past tense, question formation, and helping verbs. Research suggests that omission of tense marker (“zero marking”) is the most prevalent kind of tense error in children with SLI (Marchman, Wulfeck, Weimer, 1999). Tests that assess for verb tense include the OWLS, CASL, CELF, CELF, and SPELT tests.

Verb Tense Elicitation Ideas

Verb Tense Goal Suggestions

Emily will identify verbs with age appropriate tense when presented with pictures with contrasting foils. For example, “Which picture shows, ‘He walked to school,’ rather than, ‘He is walking to school.’?”

Walt will use age appropriate verb tense in sentences when given a verb or verb phrase. For example, “Use the verb phrase ‘could have’ in a sentence.”